Nelson Vergel, B.S.Ch.E., M.B.A.

Nelson Vergel, a chemical engineer from Venezuela, has been HIV positive since 1983. Over the years, he has become a leading treatment advocate on HIV disease in the U.S. In 1994, while trying to improve chances of survival, he created what is now known as the Program for Wellness Restoration (PoWeR), a national non-profit organization that disseminates information for people living with HIV about a comprehensive survival program for maximum health and productivity.

Nelson has lectured extensively around the country and overseas, providing over 500 seminars in English and Spanish and speaking at numerous conferences. For four years he was a community member of the Metabolics Study Group at the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. Along with his research partner, Michael Mooney, Nelson is the co-author of the book Built to Survive, which summarizes available knowledge about the use of clinical nutrition, supplementation, exercise and anabolic hormones in HIV disease.

In June of 1998, Nelson founded the Body Positive Wellness Center in Houston, which has helped more than 1,800 patients with HIV live a healthier life. Nelson is currently a member of the DHHS Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines, is active in the AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition and helps thousands of people through his Internet Web sites on lipodystrophy, wasting and HIV salvage therapy. He founded and moderates one of the largest HIV health discussion listservs online, called PozHealth.

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